Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants - Online edition

Coleus magnificus P.I.Forst. & A.J.Paton


Herb (herbaceous or woody, under 1 m tall)
Shrub (woody or herbaceous, 1-6 m tall)
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Flowers. CC-BY J.L. Dowe
Scale bar 10mm. © CSIRO
Family

Paton, A.J. et al (2019) Phytokeys 129: 98.

Stem

Flowers and fruits as a herb or shrub to 1.5 m tall.

Leaves

Stem and twigs 4-angled. Leaf blades about 3-9 x 1.8-7.5 cm, petioles about 0.3-2.5 cm long, grooved on the upper surface. Petioles and twigs clothed in long white hairs. Upper and lower surfaces of the leaf blade densely clothed in pale hairs. Margin crenate with about 8-20 teeth on each side of the leaf blade. All veins depressed on the upper surface of the leaf blade. Numerous globular red glands visible on the underside of the leaf blades. Leaves and twigs emit a fetid or aromatic odour when crushed.

Flowers

Flowers borne in slender, hairy, spike-like clusters. Flowers about 7 mm long, pedicels about 1 mm long. Calyx and corolla clothed in long, pale coloured, tortuous hairs. Outer surface of the calyx and corolla clothed in orange-red glands. Calyx tube about 2 mm long, teeth about 1.5 mm long. Corolla tube about 4 mm long, 2-lipped but 5-lobed at the apex. Staminal filaments about 7-10 mm long. Disk consists of a single structure at the base of the ovary projecting up on one side. Style about 9-10 mm long, attached to the base of the ovary, stigma 2-lobed, each lobe about 0.5 mm long.

Fruit

Fruiting calyx about 3.5-4 mm long, clothed in long multicelled hairs and scattered orange or red globose glands.

Seedlings

Features not available.

Distribution and Ecology

Endemic to NEQ. Altitudinal range from 500-1000 m. Grows in rocky areas in open forest, rain forest, monsoon forest and vine thickets.

Synonyms
Plectranthus spectabilis S.T.BlakeContributions from the Queensland Herbarium 9: 50 (1971). Type: Australia, Queensland, Macalister Range near Hartley Creek NW of Cairns (Cultivated at The Gap), Apr. 1959, S.T.Blake 20535 (holotype: BRI).
RFK Code
3083
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